The Dead Boys

A crucially important band in the early years of American punk rock, The Dead Boys titled their classic debut album 'Young Loud and Snotty', and they devoted their career to living up to that slogan. Following the example of the 'Raw Power'-era Iggy & the Stooges, The Dead Boys had an unapologetically raw and ferocious attack, though they delivered their sonic blows with taut precision, and they eagerly challenged their audience with obnoxious lyrics, a bad attitude, and the self-destructive theatrics of lead singer Stiv Bators. 'Young Loud and Snotty' was too extreme for mainstream audiences in 1977, but it would become an enduring cult classic, and their reputation as an incendiary live act was documented on 'Return of the Living Dead Boys 1986', taken from a mid-'80s reunion show. 

Originally hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, the roots of The Dead Boys lay in the fabled proto-punk band Rocket from the Tombs, led by future Pere Ubu founders Peter Laughner and David Thomas. In 1974, guitarist Gene O'Connor and drummer John Madansky were added to the band's flexible lineup, and in August 1975, during one of their infrequent live appearances, O'Connor brought his friend Steve Bators up to the stage to sing a few songs. Since Thomas was RFTT's lead singer and Laughner would sometimes take the vocal mike, Bators' presence wasn't welcomed by the rest of the band, and their disagreement would factor into their breakup. It didn't help that O'Connor and Bators preferred the more aggressive sounds of bands like The Stooges, the New York Dolls, and Alice Cooper over the artier approach favored by Thomas and Laughner, so they took the opportunity to start a band of their own that would deliver a harder punch. With the addition of Bators, guitarist William Wilden and bassist Jeff Halmagy, they formed a group called Frankenstein, and they recorded a demo tape in October 1975. Frankenstein had trouble getting gigs, and in early 1976, they called it quits. However, O'Connor and Bators began hearing about the new underground rock scene that was taking shape in the Bowery in New York City at a club called CBGB, and when the Ramones played a show in Cleveland, they befriended the visitors. Joey Ramone was particularly impressed with their style and daring, and he helped arrange an audition at CBGB for Frankenstein. Bators, O'Connor, Wilden, and Madansky made the trip to New York. After hearing them play a short set, CBGB owner Hilly Kristal immediately arranged a gig for the group, and he would soon become their manager. 

The band settled in New York City, and soon made some changes. They changed their handle from Frankenstein to The Dead Boys, inspired by a line from the RFTT song "Down in Flames," and the members adopted new stage names. Steve Bators became Stiv Bators, Gene O'Connor became Cheetah Chrome, William Wilden became Jimmy Zero, and John Madansky became Johnny Blitz. The band caused an immediate splash in their newly adopted hometown, thanks to Bators' Iggy Pop-esque, audience-baiting antics (he would writhe on the stage, stab his chest with broken glass, and mock-hang himself with his microphone cable), and the group's intense three-chord punk assault. Kristal helped The Dead Boys strike a deal with Sire Records, the label most closely connected with the CBGB scene, and former Goldie & the Gingerbreads singer Genya Ravan was tapped to produce their debut album. With future star producer Bob Clearmountain playing bass on the sessions, The Dead Boys' 'Young Loud and Snotty' was released in October 1977, and for subsequent touring, Jeff Halmagy returned as their bassist, renaming himself Jeff Magnum. 

In addition to barnstorming clubs, The Dead Boys landed a tour opening for their hero Iggy Pop in the United States, and flew to England to play a string of shows with The Damned. Though the album received good reviews in publications sympathetic to punk, The Dead Boys soon discovered that outside a few major cities, most American rock fans weren't accepting of punk in general, or them in particular. While the album would go on to be celebrated as a classic, initial sales proved disappointing, and Sire was not happy with the red ink it added to their balance sheet. (The band wasn't entirely happy with Ravan's mix, and the band leaked tapes of rough mixes they preferred that would pop up on bootleg releases.) The group set their sights on their sophomore effort, which was originally to be produced by Lou Reed, with a working title of "Down to Kill". But at the insistence of their record company, eager to convince the band to soften up their sound a bit to produce a breakthrough hit, the group settled on former Cream producer (and bassist for early-'70s Cream disciples Mountain) Felix Pappalardi. The match didn't prove to be a fit, as the former hippie was puzzled by the band's sonic onslaught, and Chrome called former Iggy & the Stooges guitarist James Williamson, begging him to take over the project. Williamson declined, and Pappalardi's mix of 'We Have Come for Your Children' arrived in June 1978. The album spawned another punk classic in "Ain't It Fun" (written by Peter Laughner during his days in Rocket from the Tombs), but the disc sold even fewer copies than its predecessor, pleasing neither critics nor fans. To add insult to injury, the group had to cancel a major tour when Blitz was almost killed after being attacked by muggers in New York City. A series of Blitz Benefit concerts were held at CBGB's to raise money for the drummer's medical bills, and featured appearances by John Belushi and Divine, as well as members of Blondie, the Ramones, and former Alice Cooper guitarist Glen Buxton.

 
With their record company still pressuring them to dramatically soften their sound and look, The Dead Boys split up in 1979. However, Sire insisted they honor their contract and deliver a third album. The band agreed to a compromise, reuniting to record a live album at CBGB. Bators, making no effort to disguise his contempt for Sire, purposely sang off-mike for the whole show, resulting in an unusable recording. Sire rejected the album; Bomp Records obtained the rights, and after Bators recut his vocals in a studio, the LP was issued in 1981 under the title 'Night of the Living Dead Boys'. Bators arranged a tour to run from late 1979 into early 1980, but the rest of the band chose not to participate, and he assembled a group to fulfill the dates. He would use the same musicians to record much of his solo debut, 1980's 'Disconnected'. The Dead Boys would reunite for the odd show here and there throughout the '80s; a show at the Ritz in New York City on Halloween 1986 was recorded and belatedly released as a live album, 1993's 'Live at the Ritz 1986'; an expanded version would be released by Cleopatra Records in 2024 as 'Return of the Living Dead Boys 1986'. 

Bators tried his hand at an acting career, appearing the films "Polyester" and "Tapeheads", before joining forces with ex-members of Sham 69 in the group The Wanderers (who issued a lone album, 1981's 'Only Lovers Left Alive'), and ex-Damned guitarist Brian James in the goth-punk outfit Lords of the New Church, who released several albums between 1982 and 1988. Having relocated to Paris, France, Bators attempted to assemble a punk supergroup, which was to have included Johnny Thunders and Dee Dee Ramone, but it fizzled out before any recording could get under way. On June 4, 1990, Bators died from injuries sustained after being hit by a car in Paris. Meanwhile, Cheetah Chrome recorded with Jeff Dahl of the Angry Samoans, played in a short-lived group with Mike Metoff of The Pagans called the Ghetto Dogs, and teamed with Sonny Vincent of the Testors and Bob Stinson of The Replacements in the group Shotgun Rationale. He also participated in a Rocket from the Tombs reunion, co-founded The Batusis with Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls, and released an album, 'Solo', in 2013.

 
After Bators' death, a bounty of Dead Boys compilations, live sets, and rarities collections appeared, including such titles as 'Twistin' on the Devil's Fork: Live at CBGB's', 'Magnificent Chaos', 'Down in Flames', 'All This & More', and 'Liver Than You'll Ever Be', in addition to releases by Rocket from the Tombs ('The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs') and Frankenstein ('Eve of the Dead Boys: October 1975'). The Dead Boys' influence on subsequent rock bands continued unabated, as such acclaimed groups as Guns N' Roses and Pearl Jam covered their songs in the '90s and 2000s. In 2017, Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz staged a Canadian tour to honor the 40th anniversary of the release of 'Young Loud and Snotty'. The touring band included guitarist Jason "Ginchy" Kottwitz, bassist Ricky Rat, and lead singer Jake Hout, and after coming off the road, the band headed into the studio. Credited to The Dead Boys, their 2017 album 'Still Snotty: Young Loud and Snotty at 40' featured fresh recordings of the nine original songs from the 1977 debut LP. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

The Flys

 

The Flys enjoyed their day in the sun during the first wave of British punk, but like more than a few bands on the scene, they had been incubating for quite some time before the Sex Pistols changed the game in the U.K. music scene. The Flys were less interested in the fast and loud template that would soon become de rigueur among the new groups; instead, their music was moody but melodic with a faint dash of psychedelia and a touch of glam, while owing no small influence to the Mod sounds of the '60s. If they sounded smarter and more polished than their peers in the punk community, their swagger and willingness to play with an impact that hit harder than an ordinary pop band gave them their bona fides as part of the New Wave. A lack of chart success kept The Flys from making a major impact during their four-year lifespan, but the singles "Love and a Molotov Cocktail," "Fun City," and "Today Belongs to Me" would belatedly be regarded as lost classics of early U.K. punk, and their sophomore album, 1979's 'Own', is often cited by fans and critics as their finest work. 

 

Hailing from Coventry in the West Midlands of England, The Flys evolved from a band called Midnight Circus, who specialized in a blend of hard rock and prog. The group was founded by guitarist Neil O'Connor, who wanted to start a band after returning from several months of exploring Europe. O'Connor was studying yoga when his instructor introduced him to her son, David Freeman, who was eager to learn the guitar. Freeman brought along his friend Joe Hughes, and with O'Connor's tutoring, Freeman became proficient on guitar, while Hughes found his niche playing bass. After going through a number of part-time drummers, Midnight Circus found the percussionist they needed when Paul Angelopoulos, originally from Florida, joined the group. Angelopoulos developed a drug habit, however, and a few months after he left the band he died of a drug overdose. Midnight Circus was pondering their next move when O'Connor saw The Clash and was inspired to take their music in a different direction. With Pete King (the brother of the band's manager, Chris King) behind the drums, the band changed their name to The Flys and stripped down their melodies while boosting their on-stage energy. While trying to drum up record company interest, the group booked time at London's Pathway Studios, an affordable eight-track studio where The Damned and Elvis Costello had cut their debut albums. After committing 14 originals to tape, they cherrypicked the best tunes and brought out their debut EP, 'A Bunch of Fives', that was issued by Chris King on his independent Zama Records label in late 1977. 

'A Bunch of Fives' attracted the attention of EMI Records (one of many labels that had passed on Midnight Circus' demos), and in January 1978, the label signed The Flys, and a track from the EP, "Love and a Molotov Cocktail," was chosen to be their first major-label single. After touring with the Buzzcocks, the Rich Kids, and John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett, and recording a BBC radio session for John Peel's influential radio show, The Flys set out to make their first album. With Mike Finesilver as producer, 'Waikiki Beach Refugees' was released in October 1978; while the production muffled some of the band's energy, reviews were positive, but "Fun City" and the title track failed to make an impression as singles, and their failure to crack the charts, coupled with extensive touring, led to frequent quarreling between O'Connor and Freeman. 

EMI opted to let The Flys cut a second album, but sessions began after Pete King left the group (his brother would also part company with The Flys as their manager). Graham Deakin, who had previously played in John Entwistle's side project Ox and Frankie Miller's Full House, took over on drums, and this time O'Connor and Freeman produced under the collective handle Two Boys Talking. Sounding brighter and more adventurous than the debut, 'Own', which came out in October 1979, was more to The Flys' liking, but while they hit the road in support, EMI chose not to release any singles from the LP, though an odds-and-ends EP, 'Four from the Square', was released the following February to little notice. Like the debut, EMI opted not to release 'Own' in the United States, though the Canadian branch of EMI imprint Harvest Records did release a 1980 compilation called 'The Flys' that featured highlights from both albums. With EMI losing interest in the group and no commercial breakthrough in sight, The Flys disbanded in mid-1980. 

Neil O'Connor would go on to play guitar for his sister Hazel O'Connor, who enjoyed chart success in the '80s and starred in the film "Breaking Glass"; Neil would later shift into production work and relocate to Canada. David Freeman and Joe Hughes would team up in the combo The Lover Speaks, and their 1986 single "No More 'I Love You's'" would later be covered by Annie Lennox. Pete King's career was cut short by cancer; he died when he was only 26. With the passage of time, a cult following rose around The Flys' small but impressive body of work; German funny-punks Die Toten Hosen covered "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" on their 1992 album 'Learning English: Lesson One' (with a guest appearance from Neil O'Connor), and Superchunk recorded a version of "Night Creatures" that appeared on the B-side of their "Slack Motherfucker" single, as well as the compilation set 'Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91)'. In 2019, Cherry Red Records released 'Today Belongs to Me: The Complete Recordings 1977-1980', a definitive collection of their recorded repertoire. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]